Remembering the Legacy of Justice Jefferson Cumberbatch: Funeral Tributes from Legal Community

Leading figures in the legal community have memorialised the Appeal Court judge and law professor Justice Jefferson Cumberbatch as the epitome of exceptional intellect, kindness and humility, at his funeral on Thursday.

The hundreds who packed the St Leonard’s Anglican Church on Westbury Road shed tears, nodded their heads in agreement, and occasionally chuckled as the tributes poured for the legal luminary many considered a mentor and friend.

President of Barbados, Her Excellency The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason led the mourners who included Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham, Attorney General Dale Marshall, former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, members of the judiciary and the Bar Association, past and present parliamentarians, and University of the West Indies alumni.

Justice Cumberbatch’s son Brian gave a closer glimpse of the man who influenced and shaped the minds of hundreds of lawyers in Barbados and across the region. Sharing his father’s love of listening to call-in radio, watching a wide range of sports, and completing the daily crossword and sudoku puzzles in pen, he expounded on his father’s ability to multitask while ensuring that no one’s request went unforgotten.

“Even when Dad did work he would be multi-tasking. It was his way of relaxing as he wrote articles for a law journal, or a research paper, correcting exam scripts during semester break, preparing a paper for a conference or writing his weekly newspaper column Musings,” he said, outlining that despite this busy schedule, he always made time for him and his other siblings, Akilah, Alexander and Jasmine.

His widow Marcia Cumberbatch read from a poem, The Guest House: “Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

Highlighting Justice Cumberbatch’s well-known ability to break down legal principles with boundless patience and insightful clarity so that anyone could understand, former student Robin Prescod insisted that the legal educator who became an appeal court judge embodied “everything the tertiary education system needed and still needs”.

Long-time friends, former Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, former minister Ronald Toppin, and Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) judge Justice Andrew Burgess spoke affectionately on their school days with “Jeff” and the loss that was being felt with his passing.

Sir Marston said: “I remember telling him once he joined us on the bench: ‘You are now my employment law guru because you have forgotten more about that than I have ever learned and so anytime we have such a case, I am going to ask you to write it for me.’ He was perfectly willing to do so and he taught me more about employment law than I ever thought I was willing to learn. We have suffered a great loss. The court system has suffered a great loss. His family has suffered a great loss and I am suffering the loss of a friend.”

Tributes were also made by John Wallis, Jack Husbands, Professor David Berry, Senior Counsel Peter Symmonds and Justice William Chandler, Cumberbatch’s cousin.

In her homily, Reverend Canon Dr Sonia Hinds touched on the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead after four days by Jesus.

“Even if it just seems as if Jesus arrived too late, we must continue to believe that he comes at the right time,” she said, adding that this was a moment of learning for those involved in that miracle. “This is the purpose of education – to educate students across a bridge of knowledge that produces enlightenment. I am sure that many of the students of Justice Cumberbatch in his role as a lecturer were guided across that bridge.”

She urged the congregation to give thanks for the late judge’s time and contributions to the lives of those around him.

Justice Cumberbatch was buried in the churchyard.

[email protected]